


Wasteland

by demiclar



Series: Destcember 2020 [26]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Destcember 2020 (Destiny), Everyone is stressed out, I started with an idea and then didn't have one, M/M, This one's all over the place, Torak doesn't like Europa but he still wants to help people, sorry - Freeform, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demiclar/pseuds/demiclar
Summary: The Darkness isn't something Torak wants to hold on to any longer than he has to, but if he can use it to help others, it might all be worth it.
Relationships: Male Guardian/Male Guardian (Destiny)
Series: Destcember 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037118
Kudos: 2
Collections: Fireteam Aadya





	Wasteland

Europa was a wasteland. The harshest climate Torak had ever seen, nothing grew but the metal structures humans and Eliksni had built long—or not so long—ago. That, and Torak's own contempt. Every part of him was beginning to dread the place, to dread the powers wielded there. The ice. Stasis. He felt he’d never escape the cold. Even when he was able to spend the night with Edon on one of their ships, and he was able to banish his shard of Darkness as far away from him as he could reasonably get it, he still felt the cold.

It had made a home within his chest, as if it lived in the hollow of his lungs, sending cold into his body with the oxygen in his blood, carrying it to every inch of him. It was more than just a physical coldness. That could’ve been banished easily by Edon, with his burning Solar Light. No, it was mental, too. He was tired more than he should’ve been, quickly drained by battles, or any kind of mental stimulation, planning for battles, looking over what they knew of the enemy forces. He even found himself to be exhausted when he wasn’t being stimulated. The stress of dealing with the Darkness had him drained seemingly at every turn.

But as many faults as he could find with Europa—for there were many, like the massive Exo head he’d found in the Clovis Bray facility that had spoken to him and nearly scared him out of his skin—there was good there as well. He found it all in his teammates. And, to his surprise, in the Eliksni.

After Variks had asked them to help him evacuate the Eliksni that wanted nothing to do with Eramis, Edon had revealed to the team that he spoke a bit of the Eliksni language himself, having decided to learn after a series of confrontations with the House of Devils that had surprisingly turned towards negotiations. With him as their translator and Variks on coms, six of them had snuck to the edge of the Eliksni colony, and had helped evacuate a large group of Eliksni, many of them young and untrained.

They’d fought and died for them against Eramis’s forces, and they’d witnessed Torak absolutely annihilate Eramis’s fighters with his own Stasis powers. Their stunned silence had filled him with more ice than the Stasis itself. Still, they’d gotten them to their skiffs safely, and they’d seen them out of the atmosphere in their own ships.

Torak had heard they were building a peaceful colony on Earth. He hoped they’d be safe there. They’d agreed to come to check on them when they could, to deliver whatever supplies they could. They’d need ether. They’d escaped without enough servitors to sustain them. Damian had gone to the Spider already in the hopes of striking a bargain. Torak wondered how much lighter their wallets would all be by the end of it, but it would be worth it until the end.

But that likely wouldn’t come soon. Now, they were gathered around the central table in the Stranger’s campsite, looking over all they could gather on Eramis, which was painfully little. Across from him, Edon grimaced down at his data tablet for perhaps the third time in the last minute.

“You alright?” Torak asked, unable to let the expression slide again.

Edon’s head jerked up quickly, just as Ada glanced to him from his right, and Tessa on Torak’s left. The two women looked down just as quickly.

“I—yeah.” He managed. “I’m fine. Just…wish we had some more information of Eramis.” He glanced to the two hunters. Ada rolled her eyes.

Torak gave a weak smile, knowing full well that wasn’t it.

“Right.” He remarked. Edon might have been a workaholic who planned things out to their fullest extent possible, but he still knew how to operate well on little information. He was good at it, and comfortable with it, too.

“What is it, really?” He pressed, setting his own data tablet aside. He’d been examining readings of his shard of Darkness, his Ghost’s information on it. Not that he could make sense of it anyways.

Edon let out a quiet sigh, coping his movements as he set down his own tablet, though he glanced at the screen a few times as if searching for an escape.

“It’s the Eliksni.” He said finally. “I’m worried about them. If the House of Devils finds out that we aided them, they might come after them. I don’t want them getting hurt.”

Torak nodded thoughtfully.  
  


“You were talking about potentially asking for their help in bargaining with the House of Devils, weren’t you?” He asked, remembering Edon mentioning it before. The House of Devils had been creeping closer towards the City since the Darkness had begun invading the City. It was more than the Guardians could handle and they all knew it.

“Yes.” Edon said, sounding grave. “But if negotiations are to work, they have to approach the House of Devils on their own. If they’re attacked, not only will they face losses—which we can’t afford—but they’ll also won’t want to negotiate with people who’ve attacked them.”

He chewed his lip.  
  


“I’m worried for both their safety and that of the front.” His eyes dropped down to the table, and Torak reached across take his hand. “I just wish I could be out there, helping them.”

“I know you do.” Torak responded. “But it’s safer that you’re here, with us. We’ll be back to fighting Eramis soon, and with the Eliksni away without us, it’s less likely that the House of Devils will know we helped them. It might look like Variks helped them, but I don’t think the Devils will attack without proof that we were involved.”

Still, Torak could think of a few ways Edon could worry though his words, and he sighed.

“What I’m trying to say is, it’s better that you’re here. And, we’re going to go and check up on them in a few days. Until then, you’ve done everything you can do. You just have to wait and see what happens.” At Edon’s worried, tense look, he squeezed his hand a little harder. “I know it’s hard.”

“Have faith, Edon.” Ada told him without looking up from her own task. “What is it that you and Zavala say? It’s the Traveler’s will.”

Edon let out a quiet sigh, crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward to rest his chin on them.

“I’m not even sure the Traveler has a will, anymore.” He murmured, and Torak felt his Darkness flicker a little colder in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Torak's hatred of ice was partially motivated by my day of skiing. The mountain was covered in ice. I was skidding and sliding all day. My legs hurt.
> 
> Also, if you're interested, I'm putting together a collection of all the works I've written featuring these characters!


End file.
